COMMUNITY 

COLLEGES

New Federal Research 

Center May Enhance 

Current 

Understanding of 

Developmental 

Education

Report to the Ranking Member, 

Committee on Education 

and the Workforce, 

U.S. House of Representatives

September 2013

GAO-13-656

United States Government Accountability Office
United States Government Accountability Office

Highlights of GAO-13-656, a report to 

the Ranking Member, Committee on 

Education and the Workforce, 

U.S. House of Representatives

September 2013

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

New Federal Research Center May Enhance Current

Understanding of Developmental Education

Why GAO Did This Study

Education reported that approximately 

42 percent of entering community 

college students were not sufficiently 

prepared for college-level courses and

enrolled in at least one developmental 

education course. Researchers also 

estimate that fewer than 25 percent of 

developmental education students will 

complete a degree or certificate. 

Improving developmental education is 

key to increasing degree and certificate 

completion. Some community colleges 

and states are instituting various 

initiatives to improve the outcomes of 

students placed into developmental 

education. 

GAO was asked to examine current 

developmental education efforts. This

report addresses the following 

questions: (1) What strategies are 

selected states and community 

colleges using to improve 

developmental education for 

community college students; and (2) 

what challenges, if any, have 

community colleges identified while 

implementing these developmental 

education strategies? GAO conducted 

site visits to community colleges and 

state education offices in Texas, 

Virginia, and Washington, which were 

identified by experts and the literature 

as states initiating innovative changes 

in developmental education 

coursework. GAO interviewed 

Education officials, as well as 

stakeholders from non-profit and 

research organizations focused on 

community college issues. In addition, 

GAO reviewed relevant laws, 

regulations, and guidance.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is making no recommendations in 

this report.

What GAO Found

States and community colleges GAO visited have implemented several 

strategies to improve developmental education—which is remedial 

coursework in math, reading, or writing for students who are assessed not 

to be ready for college-level classes. Many initiatives involved shortening 

the amount of time for developmental education and better targeting 

material to an individual student’s needs. For example, two community 

colleges have implemented fast track classes that enable students to take 

two classes in one semester instead of in two semesters. One 

developmental education program in Washington places students directly 

into college level classes that also teach developmental education as part 

of the class. Community colleges are also using tools such as test 

preparatory classes to help students prepare for placement tests that 

determine if they will need to take developmental education courses. 

According to community college officials GAO spoke with, these classes 

help familiarize students with prior coursework and, in some cases, help 

them place directly into college level courses. Additionally, most 

community colleges GAO visited have worked to align their curriculum 

with local high schools so that graduating seniors are ready for college. 

Little research has been published on these developmental education 

initiatives and whether they are leading to successful outcomes.

Most community college officials with whom GAO spoke noted that the 

limited availability of research in this area is a challenge to implementing

strategies to improve developmental education programs. Specifically, 

they noted that it is difficult to determine whether new programs are 

working, and to gain faculty support for unproven models of teaching. 

Department of Education (Education) officials confirmed that research 

regarding successful developmental education strategies is insufficient. In

response, Education has announced the availability of grant funds for a 

National Research Center on Developmental Education Assessment and 

Instruction. The Center will focus exclusively on developmental education 

assessment and instruction to inform policymakers and instructors on 

improving student outcomes. The Center is expected to launch in 2014.

Limited Research Poses a Challenge to Implementing Developmental Education 

Strategies for Community College Officials 

View GAO-13-656. For more information, 

contact Melissa Emrey-Arras at (617) 788-

0534 or EmreyArrasM@gao.gov.
Page i GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

Letter 1

Background 2

Community Colleges and States Are Using Several Strategies to 

Improve Developmental Education 4

Education’s Planned Research Center Could Help Community 

Colleges Overcome Challenges 8

Agency Comments and our Evaluation 11

Appendix I Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 12

Appendix II GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 16

Tables

Table 1: Enrollment Status, Employment, and Age Distribution of 

Community College Students 3

Table 2: List of Stakeholders, State Offices, and Community 

College Interviewees 13

Table 3: Indefinite Quantifier Categories 15

Figure

Figure 1: Community College Challenges with Implementing 

Developmental Education Strategies 10

Contents
Page ii GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

Abbreviations

ATB Ability to Benefit

CCRC Community College Research Center

I-BEST Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training

IPEDS Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

HEA Higher Education Act

NPSAS National Postsecondary Student Aid Study 

STEM Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the 

United States. The published product may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety 

without further permission from GAO. However, because this work may contain 

copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be 

necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately.
Page 1 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

441 G St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20548

September 10, 2013

The Honorable George Miller

Ranking Member

Committee on Education and the Workforce

House of Representatives

Dear Congressman Miller:

The Department of Education (Education) estimated that 42 percent of 

entering community college students were not sufficiently prepared for 

college-level courses and enrolled in at least one developmental 

education course—also known as remedial education.1 Researchers 

have also reported that fewer than 25 percent of developmental education 

students will complete a degree or certificate in 8 years.2

To address these objectives, we conducted site visits in Texas, Virginia, 

and Washington, which were identified by experts and the literature as 

states that had initiated innovative changes in their developmental 

The President 

has set a national goal of increasing the number of community college 

graduates by 5 million by the year 2020, which likely cannot be 

accomplished without improving current developmental education 

outcomes. To help improve outcomes for students in developmental 

education, some community colleges and states have begun instituting 

various initiatives to improve their developmental education courses. In 

light of these activities, you asked us to examine current developmental 

education efforts. For this report, we examined (1) what strategies 

selected states and community colleges are using to improve 

developmental education for community college students; and (2) what 

challenges, if any, community colleges have identified while implementing 

these developmental education strategies?

 1 Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (Washington, D.C.:

January, 2013); data are from the 2007-2008 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 

which was the most recent data available. The National Center for Education Statistics, 

defines remedial courses as “those for students lacking skills necessary to perform 

college-level work at the degree of rigor required by the institution.”

2 Thomas Baily and Sun-Woo Cho, Issue Brief: Developmental Education in Community 

Colleges Prepared for: The White House Summit on Community College (New York: 

Community College Research Center, Columbia University Teachers College, 2010).
Page 2 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

education coursework. While on these site visits, we interviewed officials 

from 10 community colleges and representatives from each state’s 

education office. We also visited a community college in California, which 

brought the total number of schools we visited to 11. In addition, we 

spoke with community college officials and other knowledgeable 

stakeholders in a group interview at a national conference focused on 

reforming community college student outcomes. Stakeholders we 

interviewed, both in the group and individually, included representatives 

of nonprofit and research organizations focused on community college 

issues. Lastly, to better understand the federal context for developmental 

education, we interviewed Department of Education officials and reviewed 

pertinent agency documents. We also reviewed relevant laws, 

regulations, and guidance.

We conducted this performance audit from August 2012 to August 2013 

in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 

sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 

findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that 

the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and 

conclusions based on our audit objectives. For more details on our scope 

and methodology, see appendix I.

Community colleges serve almost 40 percent of undergraduate students 

in the United States. Because most community colleges have a 

commitment to open access admissions policies—allowing anyone to 

enroll in classes—their student populations often have varied needs. For 

example, community colleges have a long history of serving older and 

part-time students by offering affordable tuition, convenient locations, and 

flexible course schedules (see table 1). Among their many goals, 

community colleges aim to prepare students who will transfer to 4-year 

institutions, provide workforce development and skills training, and offer 

noncredit programs ranging from English as a second language to skills 

retraining. Upon enrollment, students typically take a placement test in 

reading, writing, and math so that community college administrators can 

assess their skill level. Depending on their performance on the test, 

students who are not considered college-ready in these subject areas are 

placed into developmental education courses. Based on their assessed 

skills, students could be placed in one developmental education course or 

several. If placed, these courses will add to the time it takes these 

students to complete their certificate or degree, and generally do not 

qualify for college credit.

Background
Page 3 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

Table 1: Enrollment Status, Employment, and Age Distribution of Community College Students 

Total Number of Students Attending Community Colleges (Fall 2011)

Percentage of students who are part-time

a

Percentage of students who are full-time

c

d

7.1 million

60.5%

39.5% 

Employment Status of Community College Students (2007-2008)

Part-time students employed full-time

b

Part-time students employed part-time

Full-time students employed full-time

Full-time students employed part-time 

50.1%

34.4%

22.0%

52.0% 

Student Age Demographics (Fall 2011)

Percentage of students under the age of 21

a

Percentage of students aged 22 to 39 years

Percentage of students aged 40 and over 

45.6%

41.6%

12.8% 

Representation of Community College Students among Undergraduates By Race/Ethnicity (Fall 2011)

Percentage of all US undergraduates

a

Percentage of all African American undergraduates

Percentage of all Asian/Pacific Islander undergraduates

Percentage of all Hispanice

Percentage of all Native American undergraduates

undergraduates

Percentage of non-Hispanic White undergraduates

Percentage of undergraduates from two or more races or ethnicities 

37.8%

39.4%

39.3%

44.3%

44.6%

36.5%

37.5%

Source: GAO Analysis of 2011 Integrated Postsecondary Education System Database (IPEDS) a data and 2007-2008 National 

Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) b data (most recent data available).

c

IPEDS defines part-time students as those enrolled for either less than 12 semester or quarter

credits, or less than 24 contact hours per week each term.

d IPEDS defines full-time students as those enrolled for 12 or more semester credits , or 12 or more 

quarter credits, or 24 or more contact hours per week each term.

e IPEDS defines Hispanic students as those persons of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or 

Central American, or other Spanish culture of origin, regardless of race.

While developmental education is a category of coursework and not a 

specific federal program, community colleges use a variety of federal 

funding sources, such as federal grants, to help fund their programs. 

Additionally, many community college developmental education students 

access federal student aid to pay for these and other classes. Generally, 

a student enrolled in developmental education courses is eligible for 

federal student aid for up to 1 academic year’s worth of courses in a 

program leading to a degree, credential, or certificate at an eligible 
Page 4 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

institution. 3 Education, the federal agency that is responsible for 

overseeing programs authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1965, 

as amended (HEA) provided approximately $2.2 billion in the 2007-2008 

academic year in federal student aid to community college students. In 

the 2007-2008 school year 36 percent of community college students who 

were enrolled in developmental education courses were receiving federal 

student aid.4 In addition to overseeing federal student aid programs, 

Education provides national statistics and conducts national research on 

various outcomes related to post-secondary education.

All of the community college and state education officials we interviewed 

described strategies that they have used related to curriculum, 

placement, and working with high schools to help improve developmental 

education outcomes for students.5

 3 34 CFR 668.20 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, Pub. L. No. 112- 74, made 

changes to federal student aid requirements. One change was to eliminate federal student 

aid eligibility for students without a high school diploma, or its recognized equivalent or 

who did not complete secondary school in a homeschool setting. Prior to the change, 

students without a high school diploma could demonstrate an ability-to-benefit (ATB) to 

access federal financial aid by passing an approved test or completing 6 credit hours or 

the equivalent toward a degree or certificate. To help fill the gap in financial aid for 

students who do not have a high school diploma or equivalent, Education requested 

additional funding in its fiscal year 2014 budget proposal for a program that would provide 

support to students in high school as well as adult students working on a high school 

equivalency who are concurrently enrolled in postsecondary coursework.

Curriculum changes were focused on 

efforts to shorten the total amount of time students spend in 

developmental education and making developmental coursework relevant 

to a student’s career or academic area of study. Several officials and 

stakeholders with whom we spoke told us that, based on their experience, 

the longer students spend in developmental education, the less likely they 

are to move onto college-level classes. Additionally, these officials and 

stakeholders stated that they often observed that students who spent 

multiple semesters in developmental education dropped out, in large part 

because the students did not see the immediate benefits of the 

4 Data are from the 2007-2008 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) which 

were the most recently available data.

5 School officials were selected based on their school’s participation in developmental 

education reform efforts, so the high incidence of these initiatives among the interviewed 

schools should not be interpreted as an indicator of the incidence of such programs 

among community colleges broadly.

Community Colleges 

and States Are Using 

Several Strategies 

to Improve 

Developmental 

Education
Page 5 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

developmental coursework on their academic or career goals.6

Accelerating developmental coursework could also result in reduced 

financial costs for students, since they will potentially finish their 

coursework in a shorter period of time. Reducing the time spent in 

developmental education is particularly important given some of the 

recent changes to federal financial aid that shorten the amount of time 

certain aid is available to students.7

The following provides examples of strategies that are being implemented 

by some states and community colleges we visited:

Lastly, most of the community college 

officials told us that initiatives related to better placement of students and 

working with high schools on preparing students can lead to less time in 

developmental education or perhaps prevent the need for it altogether.

• Shortening the time in developmental education: All of the states and 

community colleges we visited implemented a number of initiatives to 

shorten the amount of time students spent in developmental 

education. Nearly all of the community colleges we visited 

implemented initiatives that broke up the developmental education 

classes into smaller, shorter component modules that would otherwise 

last a full term. Virginia officials described their statewide 

developmental math redesign as one that segmented classes into 

one-credit modules requiring students to take only those modules that 

they needed based on the results of an assessment. Prior to the 

redesign, a single developmental education math course carried a 

credit load of four or five credits, which could have led to students 

taking coursework they did not need over a longer period of time. 

Another initiative used to shorten the amount of time students spend 

in developmental education, involved compressing the developmental 

curriculum to allow students to complete more than one class in a 

single term. For example, two community colleges we visited offered 

 6 We interviewed community college and state officials, as well as stakeholders from 

national groups for this report. We describe the numbers of interviewees who discussed 

the strategies for improving outcomes in developmental education by using indefinite 

quantifiers such as “several” or “many.” For more specific information on how we use 

indefinite quantifiers in this report, please see appendix I.

7 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 changed a student’s lifetime Federal Pell 

Grant eligibility from 18 semesters (or its equivalent) to 12 semesters (or its equivalent). 

Also, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, Pub. L. No. 112-141 limited 

the period of time for which a student may receive subsidized loans to 150 percent of the 

published time of the academic program.
Page 6 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

fast track math classes that allowed students to complete two classes 

in one semester. Additionally, officials in two states we visited told us 

that they had implemented a statewide curriculum combining 

developmental education reading and writing coursework, thus 

reducing a two-class requirement to one during a term. Lastly, several 

community colleges we visited had reexamined the developmental 

education content needed to prepare students for college-level 

classes in order to reduce the number of required courses. For 

example, one community college did this by eliminating the overlap 

between developmental math classes and the college-level classes, 

which led them to reduce the number of developmental education 

math classes in the sequence from five classes to three.

• Making coursework applicable to academic or career goals: One state 

and most of the community colleges we visited were making their 

developmental education coursework more applicable to students’ 

academic or career goals so that students could see the relevance of 

the developmental course content immediately, while also earning 

college credits. All of the community colleges we visited in 

Washington are integrating developmental education instruction into

their college-level classes. Washington’s Integrated Basic Education 

and Skills Training (I-BEST) program places students directly into 

career and technical or college-level academic classes with two 

instructors: one to teach the subject matter and the other to teach 

developmental education in the context of the class.8

 8 Career and technical education provides individuals with academic and technical 

knowledge and skills they need to prepare for further education and for careers in current 

or emerging employment sector. This coursework leads to an Associate of Applied 

Science or other occupationally related degree, certificate, license, diploma, or other 

credential (e.g., dental assistant certificate). Washington also uses I-BEST for academic 

classes that lead toward a 2-year degree.

Another initiative 

used by a few of the community colleges we visited to make the 

coursework more relevant to students’ goals involved linking collegelevel and developmental education classes. For example, in one 

community college we visited, students can enroll in a college-level 

history or psychology class while concurrently taking a developmental 

reading class that integrates the content of the college-level class into 

its coursework. Lastly, several of the community colleges we visited 

offered alternative pathways for developmental math students 

because traditional developmental math prepares students for higher 

levels of college math they may not need for certain fields. In one 
Page 7 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

community college, the developmental math coursework has several 

pathways for students: students in Science, Technology, Engineering, 

or Mathematics (STEM) fields could take a path that leads them to the 

types of math they need for their field, such as calculus, while 

students in the social sciences or liberal arts could take a path that 

leads them to different types of statistics courses that may be more 

relevant to their fields of study.

• Rethinking Placement: Community colleges we visited are changing 

how students are placed into developmental courses so that students 

might spend less time taking such courses. Several of the community 

colleges we visited are providing preparatory classes or online test 

preparation software to better prepare students and sharpen their 

skills for the placement test. A few community college officials told us 

that students may need only a quick refresher on material they have 

already mastered but may not have used in some time. With the 

refresher course, students could place into a higher-level 

developmental education class or be placed directly into college-level 

courses. Several officials told us that these refreshers provided by 

preparatory classes or online test preparation are especially helpful 

for students who have been out of an academic setting for an 

extended amount of time. Additionally, several community colleges we 

spoke with are also considering a student’s high school grades or 

grade point average when determining placement. For example, one 

community college we visited reviews students’ transcripts and uses 

students’ grades in specified math classes at local high schools—or 

the results of their placement test, whichever was higher—to 

determine their direct placement into a developmental or college-level 

math class.

• Preventing the need for developmental education: Most of the 

community colleges we visited partnered with local K-12 schools to 

align their curriculums to help ensure that students graduating from 

the local high schools were ready for college. For example, one Texas 

community college established vertical teams that brought together 

high school and community college faculty in science, math, and 

social studies to discuss students’ academic needs. In another 

example, Washington state officials told us that, starting in 2015, the 

state plans to offer a college assessment test in the 11th grade to 

identify and provide additional instruction to students who may have 

remediation needs so that when these students graduate, they will be 

ready for college.
Page 8 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

Researchers are reviewing some of the initiatives that community 

colleges are instituting to improve outcomes for developmental education 

students, but the evidence base is limited. One program that is showing 

early promise is Washington’s I-BEST. In a study conducted by the 

Community College Research Center (CCRC), an independent research 

organization housed at Columbia University’s Teachers College, I-BEST 

was regarded as an effective model for increasing the rate at which 

students enter and succeed in postsecondary career education overall. 

Additionally, a few community college officials told us they are planning to 

conduct evaluations of their initiatives in the future to understand the 

outcomes of their activities. However, according to a few stakeholders 

and a community college official we spoke with, there is limited 

information available on a national basis for community colleges to have 

confidence in the impacts of their initiatives.

Most of the community colleges and other stakeholders with whom we 

spoke stated that more research is needed to determine if developmental 

education initiatives work. (See fig. 1.) Some stakeholders told us that 

additional research is needed to help community college officials 

understand the context in which community colleges and states are using 

developmental education models and how they are resolving issues, such 

as helping students transition into regular credit-bearing courses more 

quickly. Community college officials also expressed concerns with 

promoting some strategies without fully understanding the long- term 

outcomes, particularly on certain populations. For example, a few 

community college officials worried about the impact of using accelerated 

developmental education classes. These officials were concerned that the 

fast-paced nature of an accelerated program would increase a student’s 

risk of not completing a course or program. For example, part-time 

students enrolled in an accelerated program may have additional stress 

when trying to balance personal responsibilities, such as child care or 

work demands, while enrolled in an accelerated course and may end up 

dropping out of the college altogether. Additionally, another official told us 

Education’s Planned 

Research Center 

Could Help 

Community Colleges 

Overcome Challenges

Community College 

Challenges
Page 9 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

that knowing how to scale up pilot initiatives was a challenge because 

initiatives that were successful with one population of students may not 

be successful with other students.

Obtaining faculty support for unproven reforms was also cited by several 

community college and state officials as a challenge. Officials at one 

community college told us that it was difficult for staff to buy into changes 

to developmental education at their community college because there 

was not much training provided and initiatives were unproven. A literature 

review conducted by a stakeholder organization on acceleration 

strategies, for example, noted that faculty may resist working on reforms 

and that there is limited research to help “quell the skepticism.”9

 9 Nikki Edgecombe, Community College Research Center Brief: Accelerating the 

Academic Achievement of Students Referred to Developmental Education (New York, 

May 2011).

Recent 

literature also suggests that faculty support is a key factor to bringing 

effective practices to scale. Officials at one community college explained 

that new models of learning can be a radical change for some faculty and 

many find it difficult to change their teaching styles to adapt to the 

unproven curriculum. Officials at this community college also told us that 

some faculty members at their college are resistant and skeptical 

because they may have different philosophical views about how courses 

should be taught. To address these issues, officials in one state we 

visited created a task force that included community college and K-12 

representatives and sought input from faculty, students, and staff. 

Additionally, they relied on the limited research available to help guide 

their discussions with faculty and make decisions about the redesign, all 

of which helped move the statewide redesign forward with little 

resistance.
Page 10 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

Figure 1: Community College Challenges with Implementing Developmental 

Education Strategies

The Department of Education is taking steps to address some of the 

challenges cited by community colleges and states in improving 

developmental education by funding a new research center on this topic. 

Education officials confirmed that not enough information was available 

about successful developmental education strategies. Education officials 

further explained that most initiatives did not yet have sufficient data—2 

years worth of data or less—to determine what worked. In its Annual 

Performance Plan for Fiscal Year 2013, Education stated that one of its 

goals is enhancing the U.S. education system’s ability to continuously 

improve through better and more widespread use of data, research and 

evaluation, transparency, innovation, and technology. In light of this goal 

and to help further community colleges’ understanding of what works in 

developmental education, in May 2013, Education requested proposals 

for a National Research Center on Developmental Education Assessment 

and Instruction. Education plans for this research center to focus 

exclusively on developmental education assessment and instruction in 

order to help policy makers and practitioners improve student outcomes. 

The goals of the research center are (1) to convene policy makers, 

practitioners, and researchers interested in developmental education 

reform; (2) to identify promising reforms and support further innovations; 

(3) to conduct rigorous evaluations on the effectiveness and costeffectiveness of models that have the potential to be expanded; and (4) to 

bolster efforts by states, colleges, and universities to bring effective 

developmental education reforms to scale. An Education official stated 

that the Department, through the Center’s research, will first collect a 

nationwide inventory on what approaches are being used and then 

evaluate different approaches to teaching developmental education. The 

Center could address the research needs cited by community college and 

state officials to improve developmental education and help 

Education Plans New 

Research Center for 

Developmental Education
Page 11 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

administrators with obtaining faculty buy-in. The research center is 

expected to launch in 2014.

Meeting the national goal of increasing the rates of attainment of postsecondary degrees and certificates may be hampered by the significant 

numbers of students who enter developmental education and fail to move 

toward that outcome. Community colleges and states are initiating new 

strategies to address this problem, but the limited research available to 

them on what strategies work and for whom is proving challenging. 

Education’s research center will serve as a much needed resource for 

community colleges and states as they continue to experiment with new 

strategies, but only if it is successful in uncovering what works and 

helping colleges to put into practice what the Center learns through its 

research. Otherwise, community college students entering developmental 

education will continue to face hurdles in reaching their goals.

We provided a draft of this report to the Department of Education for 

review and comment. Education provided technical comments, which we

incorporated into the report as appropriate.

We are sending copies of this report to appropriate congressional 

committees, the Secretary of Education, and other interested parties. In 

addition, this report will be available at no charge on GAO’s website at 

http://www.gao.gov.

If you or your staff members have any questions about this report, please 

contact me at (617) 788-0534 or emreyarrasm@gao.gov. Contact points 

for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be 

found on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made key 

contributions to this report are listed in appendix II.

Sincerely yours,

Melissa Emrey-Arras

Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues

Concluding Observations

Agency Comments 

and our Evaluation
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 12 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

The objectives of this report were to determine (1) what strategies select 

states and community colleges are using to improve developmental 

education for community college students and (2) what challenges, if any, 

community colleges have identified while implementing these 

developmental education strategies.

To address the first objective, we interviewed nonprofit stakeholders with 

knowledge of community college issues. We conducted site visits to 

Texas, Virginia, and Washington, which had been identified by experts as 

doing innovative work in improving developmental education. They also 

represent regional diversity. While on those site visits, we interviewed 

officials from 10 community colleges as well as representatives from each 

state’s education office. We also visited a community college in California, 

which brought the total number of schools to 11. These 11 community 

colleges were identified by state officials and our own research as 

colleges that were implementing changes to developmental education. 

Since school officials were selected based on their school’s participation 

in developmental education reform efforts, the high incidence of these 

initiatives among the interviewed schools should not be interpreted as an 

indicator of the incidence of such programs among community colleges 

broadly. In addition, we conducted a group interview with community 

college officials and other knowledgeable stakeholders—who were 

identified by the conference sponsors as being knowledgeable about 

developmental education—at a national conference focused on reforming 

community college student outcomes.1

To address the second objective, in addition to the information gathered 

in the interviews and literature review addressed above, we interviewed 

officials at the Department of Education. The officials were from the 

following offices within the Department of Education: the Office of 

Vocational and Adult Education; the Office of Federal Student Aid; the 

National Center for Education Statistics; and the Office of Planning, 

Evaluation, and Policy Development. Additionally, we reviewed pertinent 

(See table 2 for a full list of 

stakeholders, state offices, and community colleges we interviewed 

individually and as part of our group interview.) Additionally, we reviewed 

selected literature on the topic.

 1 We attended the DREAM 2013 Conference, which was sponsored by Achieving the 

Dream, a nonprofit that works with nearly 200 community colleges to help improve 

outcomes on students’ certificate and degree completion through evidence-based 

institutional improvement. 

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 13 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

agency documents, including budget proposals, Requests for Application, 

and a list of Education’s current initiatives for community colleges, as well 

as relevant laws, regulations, and guidance.

Given that we were examining strategies of a few selected states and 

schools, we do not intend for the options and challenges identified by the 

stakeholders, state, or community college officials we interviewed to be 

an exhaustive list. In addition, we did not assess or evaluate the initiatives 

that were proposed to improve developmental education, nor do we 

necessarily recommend any such initiatives.

Table 2: List of Stakeholders, State Offices, and Community College Interviewees

Stakeholder Organizations

Organization Description 

Achieving the Dream Works with community colleges on evidence-based institutional improvement 

American Association of Community Colleges Advocacy organization for community colleges 

Aspen Institute An educational and policy studies organization 

Center for Community College Student Engagement Survey research, focus group work, and related services for community and 

technical colleges to improve educational quality. 

Community College Research Center A research center focused on assessing the problems and performance of 

community colleges.

Complete College America Works with states to increase the number of career certificates and college 

degrees awarded for traditionally underrepresented populations.

Delta Cost Project Working to improve college affordability by controlling costs and improving 

productivity.

Education Commission of the States Interstate compact to improve public education by facilitating an exchange of 

information among state policymakers and education leaders 

Jobs for the Future Works with partners to design and drive adoption of initiatives to increase the 

number of low-income youth and adults with postsecondary credentials 

MDC, Inc.* Helps communities or organizations identify barriers, implement demonstration 

projects, asses those projects, and bring them to scale.

MDRC Designs interventions, evaluates existing programs, and provides technical 

assistance to improve the lives of the low-income population.

National Association for Developmental Education Professional association for developmental educators.
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 14 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

State Offices

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

Virginia Community College System

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges 

Community Colleges

School name Location

Austin Community Collegea Austin, TX 

Community College of Baltimore Countyb Baltimore, MD 

Everett Community College Everett, WA a 

Housatonic Community College Bridgeport, CT b 

Houston Community Collegea Houston, TX 

J Sargeant Reynolds Community Collegea Richmond, VA 

Kingsborough Community Collegeb Brooklyn, NY 

Lake Washington Institute of Technologya Kirkland, WA 

Long Beach City College Long Beach, CA a 

Lower Columbia Collegea Longview, WA 

Northern Seattle Community Collegea Seattle, WA 

Northern Virginia Community College Annandale, VA a 

San Jacinto Collegea Pasadena, TX 

Tacoma Community Collegea Tacoma, WA 

University of the District of Columbia Community College Washington, D.C. b 

Source: GAO analysis of interviews

* Group interview participants

a

Site visit college

b

Participant in group interview

We use indefinite quantifiers when describing the number of stakeholders 

or community colleges whose representatives mentioned the topic 

referenced in the respective sentence. In using the indefinite quantifiers, 

we are only including the 11 community colleges we visited directly as 

part of our site visits and the 11 stakeholder organizations whose 

representatives we spoke with individually. The community colleges or 

stakeholders referenced in the indefinite quantifiers were not part of our 

group interview. The indefinite qualifiers categories are listed in table 3:

The Use of Indefinite 

Quantifiers
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

Page 15 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

Table 3: Indefinite Quantifier Categories

Indefinite quantifier Number of community colleges or stakeholder groupsa

A few 2 community colleges or stakeholder groups

Several 3 to 4 community colleges or stakeholder groups

Some 5 to 6 community colleges or stakeholder groups

Most 7 to 8 community colleges or stakeholder groups

Nearly all 9 to 10 community colleges or stakeholder groups

Source: GAO analysis of interviews

a

In describing the indefinite quantifiers in the report, we counted community colleges we visited or 

stakeholders whose representatives we interviewed. We are not counting the number of 

representatives interviewed. The group of representatives at each stakeholder group or college is 

being counted as a single unit. Further, our count for the number of community colleges engaging in 

initiatives or experiencing challenges discussed in this report reflects information provided to us 

during the course of our interviews. While our interviews were thorough, it is possible that initiatives 

and challenges may not have been mentioned during that time or that community colleges have 

instituted new initiatives since we spoke with them.

We conducted this performance audit from August 2012 to August 2013 

in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 

sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 

findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that 

the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and 

conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Appendix II: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

Page 16 GAO-13-656 Developmental Education

Melissa Emrey-Arras, Director, (617) 788-0534, or 

EmreyArrasM@gao.gov

In addition to the individual above, Janet Mascia (Assistant Director), 

David Reed, Vernette Shaw, and Anjali Tekchandani made significant 

contributions to this report. Kirsten Lauber, Jessica Botsford, Deborah 

Bland, and Holly Dye also contributed to this report.

Appendix II: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

GAO Contact

Staff 

Acknowledgments

(131188)
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